Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Leisure: Coronavirus

baroness doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what targeted, support they are making available to leisure centres, museums, parks and libraries both during and beyond the lockdown.

baroness barran: Organisations in the leisure and recreation sector have benefitted from the unprecedented Government support for business and workers. We know that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, in particular, has been a lifeline for these sectors, protecting jobs while organisations are closed. In general, it is expected that publicly funded bodies such as leisure centres and parks, including companies (public enterprises), will not need to access the various different government support schemes. Other organisations such as charitable libraries, leisure centres, and museums, may be able to benefit from a range of support measures including: A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England; the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund; the Small Business Grant Fund, which provides £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief; the Discretionary Grant Fund for Local Authorities in England to make grants payments to businesses not eligible for the above schemes; the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme; VAT deferral for up to 12 months; the Time To Pay scheme; and protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until June 30, 2020. There is also sector-specific support. For example, museums have had access to over £200 million of support from Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Historic England. The Government continues to monitor the impact of these and other measures.

Department for Education

Higher Education: Coronavirus

lord bourne of aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the higher education sector concerning the next academic year, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

baroness berridge: The department engages regularly with representative bodies covering all types of higher education provider, encompassing all locations, as well as receiving representations in person and by correspondence from individual providers on a range of issues including the next academic year 2020-21.The government announced a package of measures in May to protect students and the higher education sector from the impact of COVID-19. This has been discussed extensively with the sector, including through ministerial roundtables and letters. The package included a range of measures for next academic year. To ensure a fair, structured distribution of students across providers, temporary student number controls have been put in place for full-time, undergraduate domestic and EU students for academic year 2020/21 (with certain specific exemptions). The Government has also pulled forward tuition fee payments, expected to be worth £2.6 billion, for providers so that they receive more cash in the first term of academic year 2020/21. Through the proposals from the government and the sector, students will also benefit from a new proactive and personalised UCAS Clearing process this summer.The government is working with higher education (HE) providers to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies to the best of their abilities this academic year and next.Whilst recognising universities are autonomous institutions, we will shortly publish guidance to support them to make informed decisions on making university buildings and campuses accessible again, while minimising risks to students and staffFurthermore, the HE sector is already working hard to prepare learning materials for the autumn term. This includes the government working with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, professional bodies and the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator in England, to ensure students continue to leave university with qualifications that have real value. The OfS has published guidance for registered providers about how the OfS will approach the regulation of quality and standards during the COVID-19 outbreak. This guidance is clear that standards must be maintained - further details are available at https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/guidance-for-providers-about-quality-and-standards-during-coronavirus-pandemic/. Actions that providers are taking now may continue to be required in the 2020- 21 academic year if the disruption as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak is prolonged.

Private Education: Regulation

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to re-open the public consultation on "Regulating independent educational institutions"; and what measures they will be taking to protect pupils at risk in unregistered settings, including illegal religious schools, untilthe law is changed.

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which illegal schools have continued to operate during the COVID-19 lockdown; and how they intend to mitigate the risks to the pupils attending such settings as the lockdown is eased.

baroness berridge: The department intends to reopen the consultation on 'Regulating independent educational institutions' when stakeholders ability to respond is less likely to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Responses received to date will be combined with responses received after the consultation reopens and fully reviewed after the consultation finally closes.It is not yet appropriate to set a date for reopening the consultation as the situation in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak continues to change.Ofsted continues to investigate potential illegal schools including consideration of new intelligence. Where appropriate, Ofsted have liaised with local authorities and other statutory bodies to consider whether there is appropriate action that should be taken, for example, to close settings where people are gathering illegally during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ministry of Defence

Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many officials from the Ministry of Defence were members of the Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre in (1) 2018, (2) 2019, and (3) 2020.

baroness goldie: The following number of Ministry of Defence officials were members of the Counter Proliferation & Arms Control Centre in 2018, 2019 and 2020.2018: 92019: 102020: 10

Porton Down: Finance

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much annual funding the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory received in (1) 2016, (2) 2017, (3) 2018, (4) 2019, and (5) 2020. [T]

baroness goldie: As a Trading Fund (up to 31 March 2017) or Executive Agency (from 1 April 2017) of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Dstl is funded principally by revenue from customers rather than direct Government funding. Since 1 April 2017 capital expenditure only has been funded directly from MOD budget allocation. Previously as a Trading Fund, capital expenditure was funded from accumulated cash reserves, and was therefore deemed to be funded from within operating income (turnover). For the year ended 31 March 2020 the accounts are yet to be audited and are currently scheduled to be laid before Parliament in September 2020. Summary figures to the nearest £million are: Year EndedOperating Income £m Capital Funding £m31-3-2016610n/a – funded from income31-3-2017585n/a – funded from income31-3-20185425731-3-20196266331-3-2020686 (budget)71 (budget)   Full details of Dstl’s total funding, principal customers and amounts spent externally via third parties are available from the Agency’s published Annual Report and Accounts for all financial years up to 31 March 2019, available in the House of Commons library and at the following links:   2015/16 - HC 36https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-science-and-technology-laboratory-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016 2016/17 - HC 83https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-science-and-technology-laboratory-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017 2017/18-HC1265https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-science-and-technology-laboratory-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018 2018/19-HC2244https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-science-and-technology-laboratory-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019

Northern Ireland Office

Veterans: Northern Ireland

lord maginnis of drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons they learnt from the (1) process followed by, and (2) conclusions of, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team; whether any such lessons are applicable to any ongoing investigations into soldiers who served in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1994; and what plans they have, if any, to establish a similar team to oversee any such investigations.

viscount younger of leckie: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made clear that the Government is committed to introducing legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles. This legislation will place information recovery and reconciliation at the heart of a revised legacy system that puts victims first. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has begun the process of engaging key partners on a way forward which will focus on reconciliation, delivering for victims and ensuring that all Service Personnel who served in Northern Ireland are treated as fairly as those who served overseas. Where appropriate, we will draw on the lessons from the Iraq Historic Allegations Team. In Northern Ireland, during the Troubles, the Armed Forces acted in support of the civil powers, within the UK. This is different to military action outside the UK.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultations they (1) have undertaken, and (2) plan to undertake, in regard to the Victims Payments Scheme in Northern Ireland with (a) political parties that are not represented in the Northern Ireland Executive, and (b) civil society representatives in Northern Ireland.

viscount younger of leckie: The Government ran a public consultation in October and November last year on our proposals for legislating for a Victims Payments Scheme. The consultation provided an opportunity for anyone to comment on the shape of the proposed scheme. In line with the Northern Ireland Office Equality Scheme, we notified our list of consultees - including a wide range of public bodies, political parties, religious and representative organisations - about the consultation. The consultation team also made itself available to meet a range of interested groups and parties to discuss the proposals and the issues arising from them. We received 367 responses from a variety of parties, individuals, representatives and groups, including the Green Party NI. We carefully considered all written and oral feedback received in making final decisions about the shape of the scheme. The Northern Ireland Office also engaged with the main parties on the detail of draft guidance that will support the scheme’s independent board in making decisions to award payments.

Treasury

Economic Situation: Coronavirus

lord moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact of a decrease in GDP as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) legislative, and (2) manifesto, commitments for expenditure as a percentage of GDP.

lord agnew of oulton: The UK’s fiscal council, the Office of Budget Responsibility, makes forecasts for GDP. They have published a coronavirus reference scenario, which they continue to develop and update, which can be found on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s website. In their public commentary the Office for Budget Responsibility have said that the fiscal and monetary support measures of the UK authorities “help to limit the adverse impact on potential output and thus future GDP once the crisis has passed”. The government will take stock of the impact of the covid-19 public health and economic emergency on the forecast for the economy and public finances through the Budget process. Further details of spending plans will be set out in due course, including through a Spending Review later this year.